40 Theme Challenge
by AuroraBlix
Summary: Forty themes used to describe the relationship between Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. Prompts belong to British-Prophetess of DeviantArt.
1. Chapter One: 1-10

**A/N: 10 themes used to take various pictures of the relationship between partners Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan, in ****_Castle_****-my latest and greatest obsession. Enjoy, and sorry to my friends who are used to RvB/PFL stuff from me and/or don't watch ****_Castle_****! (If you don't, then go watch it ****_now_****!) These themes belong to British-Prophetess of DeviantArt, by the by. Enjoy!**

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**1. A Million To One**

It was a million to one that Ryan felt the same way about Javier as Javier did for him. But still, it was nice when work was slow to just stare off into the distance and imagine...

**2. Under The Night's Sky**

Standing there, under the night's sky, it was easier to believe that Esposito didn't just view him as a friend. Easier to believe that, when his partner looked at him with glazed eyes, it was for a reason other than the many, many beers he's consumed that evening.

**3. Bells Of Peace**

They called it the "Bell of Peace". Castle's idea, of course. Whenever Javier, Ryan, and/or Castle got into an argument, you just had to ring the little silver bell to put an end to it. Javier thought it was a stupid idea. That is, until he had swiped it from Beckett's desk and rang it in the middle of an argument with Ryan. Sprawled on the floor afterwards, naked and completely spent from Ryan's sneak attack, he thought vaguely that he'd have to send Castle a bottle of something expensive to thank him for ever coming up with the idea.

**4. For Your Information**

"For your information, I am _fantastic_ in bed!" Kevin wished that he could take those words back the second he said them, in retaliation to some smartass remark that his partner, Esposito, had made.

Of course, that thought flew completely out of his head when Esposito cocked his head in a very un-Esposito-like fashion, and said in a husky voice, "Prove it."

**5. Part Of My Natural Charm**

Irritated that the third girl he'd hit on that night had been more interested in Ryan, Javier had thrown up his hands in defeat. "Why? _Why_ do they always go for _you_!"

His partner smirked with his stupid face. "It's must be part of my natural charm," Ryan quipped, tucking the slip of paper with Girl #3's phone number written on it into his pocket to join the others.

Javier rolled his eyes and turned toward the bar, gesturing for yet another shot of tequila. The young, blonde, blue-eyed bartender made his way over and poured the shot. After Javier had downed it, he made to pull out his wallet, but the man waved his hand away. "It's on the house," he said, winking and with his smile quirking wickedly, and then made his way over to another customer.

The Hispanic detective looked over at his partner when he heard a choking noise. He pounded Ryan on the back for a moment then, when his lungs were clear, grinned.

"It must be part of my natural charm."

Javier spent the rest of the night thinking about how he'd rather see that wicked expression in completely different pair of baby-blues...

**6. Note To Self**

_Note to self,_ Kevin thought. _Never make an extremely sexual innuendo about your partner, whom you're secretly sweet on, when your girlfriend, boss, and crime-writing friend is within earshot. You get some very strange looks._

**7. You're Not The One For Me**

Javier could barely believe it when Jenny hadn't accepted his partner's proposal. He could believe it even less when he later heard the two in the break room, talking.

"I'm sorry Kevin, I really am, but you're not the one for me." Javier nearly stormed in there to give that bitch a piece of his mind, when her next words stopped him dead.

"And I'm not the one for you. Don't think I haven't noticed," she continued sadly. "I know that you love me, I _do_. But you don't love me the _most_, and I think I deserve better than that. I'll always love you Kev, and you'll always love _him_."

Javier peeked around the corner to see Jenny kiss Ryan on the cheek, then whisper, "Now go get him."

Javier Esposito waited around the corner for a couple minutes after the blonde woman left, before heading into the breakroom. To cover his tracks, Javier grabbed a cup of coffee. "What's up, bro?"

He turned to look at his partner, whose expression was equal parts devastated and hopeful.

**8. Mornings Are Unbearable**

Kevin Ryan decided that mornings after one-night stands were unbearable-especially when they involved your partner, whom you weren't supposed to be attracted to, because that was against regulations. He tried to play it off as completely indifferent, and decided that mornings were doubly unbearable when your one-night stand, who was your partner, was also a detective. Esposito's eyes were all too knowing, in Kevin's opinion.

**9. Need Something In Return**

He left his wallet in his desk and felt ridiculous when he leaned over the counter to brush his lips against the cashier of the coffee shop's own. Then the barista's. Then those of the girl who _made_ all the coffees...

_Ah, shit! Um, I don't have my wallet with me, but I can run and go get it. I'm a detective, so I'm not just saying this._

_No, it's cool. It's on the house, but we_ will _need something in return._

Seeing his partner's expression—smug and holding up his wallet for all to see—crumble when he returned to the station with coffee for all four of them and with cherry-red lipstick all over his lips and cheeks, was priceless to Javier.

**10. If You Do That**

Kevin was holding Esposito's wallet out of his reach, reveling in the adorably frustrated look on his partner's face, when it suddenly changed into something oddly calculating.

He shifted uncomfortably under his partner's scrutiny, then held his hand out pathetically for Esposito to take the wallet back, hanging his head now that his fun had been ruined.

"If you do that, bro," Esposito said coyly, "I won't be able to do this."

Then—to his partner's eternal surprise, not to mention gratitude—Javier Esposito lunged forward, pressing his lips against Kevin's and reaching out to pluck his wallet out of the other man's hand.

They both looked around when all sound in the precinct ceased, and Esposito stepped away quickly and self-consciously. Kevin then grinned slyly. "If you do that, then _I_ can't do _this_."

Then he pushed his Hispanic partner roughly against the desk, and crushed their lips together. When Esposito's began to respond, sliding his tongue into Kevin's mouth, neither noticed how everyone in the precinct either handed over money or received it from another.


	2. Chapter Two: 11-20

**A/N: Lemme know if I should stop while I'm ahead, please. Also, let me know if you want me to expand on any of these prompts. I still got the prompts from British-Prophetess of Deviantart.**

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**11. Taking A Mini Break**

Kevin sighed and shuffled off in the direction of the break room for a cup of coffee. He passed Esposito on the way, who smirked at his Irish partner.

"Tired?" Espo asked innocently.

Kevin was the one who'd volunteered them to stay behind at the precinct late and finish the extensive paperwork for their latest case. As such, he refused to admit defeat even if that meant looking like a zombie the next morning or drinking coffee like a meth addict.

"I'm just taking a mini-break. To get more coffee," he answered shortly. Still walking, he had turned around and gone backwards while he spoke, but soon realized the folly of that.

Lying sprawled on the floor, staring at the ceiling, he wondered how it had come to this. His partner's face loomed over him, and spoke.

"I suppose that was you just taking a mini-trip, too?"

Kevin flipped Esposito off, lay there for a moment longer, then got up and continued in his search for coffee. He was gonna need a lot.

**12. Love Isn't Eternal**

Javier tried to reassure himself that love wasn't eternal. That it could fade, or be replaced, or be ignored for so long that it was almost like it didn't exist. What he wasn't sure about, however, was if he was thinking about that in terms of Ryan loving Jenny, or of him loving Ryan.

**13. Miss Me Already? **

He waited. And waited… And then, just for the hell of it, he waited a little longer. This was ridiculous—Esposito was _not_ coming back.

Kevin shouldn't have let his excitement get the best of him. He shouldn't have let the joy of knowing that the bullet-hole in Castle's shoulder was fatal, or even very serious. And he _definitely_ should not have up and kissed his partner full on the mouth when they heard the news.

Now, Kevin had spooked his partner—whom he wasn't sure was aware that Kevin took love from wherever he got it—and there was no coming back from that. Their partnership was over; their friendship wrecked.

In one fell swoop, he'd managed to epically fuck up one of—if not _the_—best things that had ever happened to him. Just because he gotten caught up in the moment.

Now, he was waiting outside the hospital, hours after Esposito had said "I'll be right back" and would probably _stay_ waiting there until the second coming. Or, until Beckett called Kevin on his cellphone and ordered him to _go home!_

He sighed dejectedly and started down the sidewalk toward his car. And there, leaning against it, was his wayward partner.

"Miss me already?" Espo tried to joke, but it fell flat. He waited in uncomfortable silence for his partner, his _Kev_, to respond, but he never did.

Esposito sighed. "Listen, bro—"

Sure, he'd been a dick. Sure, he might have very well broken his partner's heart for a few hours there. Sure, he owed Kevin a serious apology and ridiculous amounts of make-up sex when this was all over.

Still, the right hook was... unexpected.

Esposito, sprawled on the ground, sat up and looked Kevin straight in the eye, and finally gave his partner an answer.

"I love you, too, Kev."

**14. I Keep What I Steal**

Javier's partner was crowing victoriously in the middle of the precinct when he said the fateful words that made understanding hit Javi like a bolt of lightning.

"I keep what I steal, and nobody can take it away from me!" Ryan shouted from on top of his desk, to the amusement of his coworkers and the consternation of Beckett.

_Yeah,_ Javier thought from ground-level. _If I can't get my donut away from Kev, how the fuck am I supposed to get back my heart?_

**15. Blood Carnage**

If Esposito kept kicking his ass in Halo: Reach, he was gonna have to take up Blood-Carnage99's offer of remedial lessons, Kevin thought ruefully, over his Hispanic partner's cheers.

**16. Bent Out Of Shape**

"Whoa, bro! It's just a tie—no need to get all bent out of shape," Javier tried to reason with Ryan. Of course, there was just no reasoning with a lunatic who flipped out over spilling coffee on a tie that his girlfriend had given him.

Of course, there was also no reasoning with the lovesick idiot who thought that the aforementioned flipping out was adorable.

**17. Cowardly Hero**

Everyone congratulated Kevin when all was said and done.

They called him incredible for taking down the bad guy. They called him amazing for there not being any civilian casualties. They called him a hero for taking a bullet for his teammate.

But, if he was a hero, then he was the most cowardly hero in the universe for never telling Espo exactly _why_ he'd taken that bullet for him...

**18. Wrong Bed, Huge Mistake**

Javier had messed up majorly in his life. Still, accidently—and _maybe_—sleeping with Castle was definitely on his top five list.

When he woke up with a raging hangover, and looked over to see _Rick Castle_ lying next to him, Javi high-tailed it out of the man's apartment. The note that he left read: _Wrong bed, huge mistake, sorry about the hickey, owe you coffee and donuts tomorrow._

As awkward _Thanks, let's not_ ever _do it again_'s letters went, Castle thought it was pretty thoughtful. Who knew that all he had to do to get Javier to bring donuts in the morning was sleep with him?

He'd have to brace Ryan for the incoming shock of knowing that he and Espo had slept together by taking him out for a beer and letting him borrow the Ferrari for a few days.

Of course, the fact that Javier kept calling him _Kev_ and _querido_ and saying _te amo, cariño_ might soften the blow, Castle thought idly.

**19. Life Support**

To Kevin, being away from his partner was like being on life support. Technically, you were still living—but you were just waiting for the day when you either died or could breathe on your own. Then again, the fact that he needed Esposito around to feel like he could breathe on his own was a tad contradictory, but Alexis Castle never mentioned that when he friend started talking about the feeling.

**20. Buying Time**

Javier was just buying time, and not doing a very good job of it. How the hell was he going to avoid telling his partner that he loved him?

He was living on _borrowed_ time, really, because he'd surely die when Ryan told him in polite—but not uncertain terms—that he didn't feel the same way.

The fact that their night at the Old Haunt was quickly transitioning into the _I love you, man_ stage of drinking was shortening his time considerably, as well.


	3. Chapter Three: 21-30

**A/N: These ones are all pretty much connected, like little bits from the same story progression. Enjoy!**

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**21. Familiar Stranger**

Love turned Javier into someone—some_thing_—he didn't recognize.

Love turned him into a person who was moody and prickly and avoided as much contact with his partner as possible.

Love turned him into a man who snapped and snarled whenever he was disturbed, and flinched when his partner laid a hand on his shoulder.

When Javier looked at himself in the mirror, he didn't recognize the reflection. He saw an angry, tense mouth; he saw new wrinkles on his forehead that hadn't been there before; he saw tired, bloodshot eyes; and, above all, he saw fear.

Etched into every feature of his face was a wild panic, lurking just beneath the surface.

His face was the same, yet completely different—alien.

Javi's love had turned the detective into a familiar stranger, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. He loved Ryan too much to ever regret it.

_It was better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all._

The Hispanic detective took issue with that statement—because not loving seemed almost preferable at that point—but let it go.

He loved his partner more than he'd ever admit, even now, and now he'd deal with the fallout.

**22. Overcompensating For Something**

Kevin was completely bewildered by his partner's behavior.

He felt like they were all playing parts in some kind of Greek tragedy, only no one had given Kevin a script, and he was left fumbling to remember his lines.

It was a disturbingly apt analogy for what was happening to his relationship with Esposito.

Where there was once ease and comfort, there was now tension and wariness. His brain scattered whenever they spoke, feeding him lines that made no sense in the first place, and his tongue teamed up to twist and mangle them into something frighteningly different from what he originally meant.

Things even got so bad that other people from the precinct began to notice.

They asked him what was going on, but all Kevin could do was shrug helplessly. He didn't know either.

After almost two weeks, it got better. In some ways.

Espo no longer snapped at him when they touched, and no longer growled when other people touched _Kevin_. He no longer snarled when people snapped him out of the preoccupation that he was suddenly prone to. He no longer glared at jelly donuts as if they had slept with his sister (not that anyone got that bit, anyway).

While still filled to the brim with odd, nervous energy, Esposito was quick to smile and joke and go on coffee runs. He laughed and talked with others in a civil manner, and didn't injure any more suspects.

But if he was just trying to make up for his behavior before, this was an extreme way of going about it.

No, he was overcompensating for something. And Detective Kevin Ryan was determined to find out what that _something_ was.

**23. Pregnancy Cravings**

Javier couldn't help but stare.

Cream cheese and a hot dog. With _cinnamon_. _In a tortilla_.

The sight was so disturbing that the Hispanic detective almost gagged; then his partner grinned happily through a mouthful of his treat, and Javi suddenly didn't mind so much.

So, his partner was quirky—that was just another reason he loved Ryan.

Shaking his head in mock-disgust, Javier turned to head to the break room for more coffee. He heard Castle walk up to his partner and say in a shocked voice, "What—are you pregnant or something?"

Javier didn't hear an answer, but didn't realize it was because Ryan was gaping at his retreating form.

He didn't realize that it was because he'd voiced that little sentiment about loving his partner out loud.

**24. That's Unfortunate**

Kevin wasn't sure which was more unfortunate: his partner's recent mood-swings and surliness, or his tie.

What was more unfortunate, though, was Kev's inability to tell his partner—his _Javi_—how he felt.

Yeah, that was definitely the worst.

**25. What Did He Say?**

"So, what did he say?"

"…What did who say?"

"Kevin, of course!"

"What did Kevin say when?"

"… You didn't tell him, did you?"

"…" *sigh* "No."

"You are such a wimp, Javier Esposito."

"Thanks, Lex. Way to up my confidence.

"Screw confidence! We need to up your intoxication! Then you can sit Kev down and, after about twenty minutes of talking, casually drop into the conversation that you wanna have lots and lots of sex and babies."

*sputters* "Say that a little bit louder, Mini-Castle! I don't think the people on the other side of the precinct hear you!"

"So, you're not denying it?"

"…" *sigh* "No, Alexis, I'm not."

"Good. Let's get started then."

**26. Done And Done**

1. Pizza. _Check_.

2. Beer. _Check_.

3. Halo: Reach. _Check_.

Kevin looked over the list that Alexis Castle had provided and their corresponding check-marks. Then he looked at the very last item on his list.

4. Screw up the courage to tell Esposito how you feel so you are no longer distracted during work, thinking about how incredible it would be to kiss your partner. It's gotten pathetic.

Kevin Ryan sighed. Castle's daughter was mean.

_In the works_.

**27. Grow Some Balls**

Javi had paused the game to argue with Ryan about something. He couldn't quite remember what.

As they'd teasingly insulted each other, the Hispanic detective scolded himself, _Grow some balls, dude. Just kiss him!_

Oh, great. Now he was beginning to sound like Castle's kid.

He looked over at his partner, trying to screw up his courage, but couldn't manage it and quickly turned his head to take another bite of pizza.

**28. First Attempt**

His first attempt was slightly less than successful.

They had been teasing each other about something or other when his partner had stopped and looked at him with a peculiar expression on his face. After a moment, though, he suddenly turned to take a bite of food.

Unfortunately for the Irish detective, that was the exact moment he threw caution to the wind and leaned in to kiss Esposito.

He missed, and Kevin's lips ended up on his partner's throat.

Okay, so his first attempt wasn't great.

When Kevin's partner looked at him gratefully, he knew that the second attempt would be much better.

And it was.

**29. Terrible Design**

As he and his partner stumbled down the hall, lips exploring each other and hands tugging desperately on clothing, Javier thought wildly what a terrible design his partner's stupid vests were.

It was just ridiculous how difficult it was to get the damn thing off.

**30. Is It True?**

"Is it true?"

Esposito cracked an eye to look at his Irish partner, and Kevin hated himself for how timid his voice sounded.

They were both lying on the floor of Esposito's bedroom—never having made it to the bed, but Kevin was surprised they even made it to the hall—and trying to get their breathing under control, and Kevin knew he was basically ruining the afterglow, but…

But maybe he read the situation wrong. Maybe this was just a one-night stand. Maybe Espo didn't care about him the same way. Maybe—

Kevin's internal panic attack was cut off by Esposito lightly tugging his hair and bringing him in for a kiss.

After a few moments, his Hispanic partner pulled back slightly and rested their foreheads together.

"Every word, bro."

Kevin couldn't help but sigh in relief, and opened his eyes to see Esposito looking more vulnerable than he'd ever seen his partner before.

"I love you, too, Javi."

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**A/N: Review, you ungrateful bastards. Please. **


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